Strum Warnings


As the U. S. government enters another cycle of overdue indictments and old as well as new lies are confirmed or exposed each day, it would be fitting to remember a few courageous, intelligent artists who spoke out when they still held the minority view. Also, after the fricasseeing of the Dixie Chicks for one remark by Natalie Maine at a British concert, these musicians knew they could be facing malicious attempts to sabotage their careers.

The first cautionary voice I noticed came from Steve Earle in his 2002 release, "Jerusalem". The first cut, "Ashes to Ashes" warns of the dark side of our response to the Twin Towers disaster, particularly the opportunities for xenophobia, demagoguery, and a mindless version of 'patriotism' that would inevitably erode the guarantees of a free society. Everyone should also read Mr. Earle's eloquent manifesto in the liner notes to "The Revolution Starts Now", his follow-up CD from 2004. For this project, Steve Earle also made the daring commitment to do all the sessions in just a few days in order to get his message out before the election.

Rickie Lee Jones channeled Tom Paine as well as Paul Revere in her 2003 recording, "Tell Somebody What's Happenin' in the USA (Repeal the Patriot Act)" from the CD
"The Evening of My Best Day". She also felt compelled to include a short prose statement urging citizens to shout "No!" to their representatives about the vile affront to civil liberties euphemistically called the Patriot Act.

In her delightfully wicca cum Alice (in wonderland) approach to reality, Laura Love issued "Welcome to Pagan Place" (2003), in which she continued to decry the corporatization of everything while singing her joyous, life-affirming arias. Again, I direct you to the liner notes, wherein Laura articulates the dread so many of us felt as we watched Bush's gang spiral ever more deeply into death & destruction as a growth industry.

Finally, in 2004, came the real 'shock & awe' of "American Idiot", Green Day's purifying blast of rage, sorrow, and general kiss-my-ass insouciance -- a solid resolution to totally reject the crap being foisted upon us by our leaders. "American Idiot" has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and the new concert DVD, "Bullet in a Bible" is truly awe-inspiring and energizing. Green Day is obviously spreading a healthy skepticism throughout suburbia and beyond. You can believe it will bear fruit, in the form of less tolerance for war and other stupidities, not too far down the line.

Please take a moment today to thank all these gutsy musicians for resisting the idiotic pronouncements of the military/industrial spokesheads for the last four years. They've reminded us that the true power lies in our own compassion and common sense -- coupled with a refusal to accept "leadership" based on fear, manipulation, and a "blizzard of lies".*
---Lp

*see Dave Frishberg's cool song of the same name from about twenty years ago.


THINGS to check out ____ Phil Och's propulsive rhythm guitar playing on "I Ain't Marchin'
Anymore"